Information processing device, information processing system and computer readable medium

ABSTRACT

An information processing device includes a processor configured to: group electronic documents that have been processed, based on similarity degree of the electronic documents into one or more groups; determine a group, among the one or more groups, to which at least one received electronic document is to belong; determine whether the at least one received document is a modified version of one or more electronic documents belonging to the determined group, the modified version having been partially modified with respect to the one or more electronic documents belonging to the determined group; and specify a blank portion in the at least one received electronic document by comparing the at least one received electronic document with the one or more electronic documents belonging to the determined group.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 fromJapanese Patent Application No. 2020-5305 filed on Jan. 16, 2020 andJapanese Patent Application No. 2020-5306 filed on Jan. 16, 2020.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present invention relates to an information processing device, aninformation processing system and a computer readable medium.

Related Art

In related art, entry portions are prepared in a paper document, and thedocument whose entry portions are filled is submitted to a predeterminedperson in charge or the like. Then, the person who receives thesubmitted paper document needs to perform confirmation work on entrymatters. An example of the confirmation work includes work forconfirming presence or absence of a blank portion. At this time, inrelated art, the person in charge needs to visually confirm the presenceor absence of the blank portion, which requires a lot of efforts for theconfirmation work. On the other hand, when an electronic document isused as the document, efforts required for delivering the document isreduced, but the presence or absence of the blank portion must beconfirmed visually in the same manner.

JP-A-2011-65311 discloses an image processing device. In the imageprocessing device, a first image reception unit receives an image of adocument not yet filled, and an entry area extraction unit extracts anentry area from the image received by the first image reception unit.Further, a first feature amount extraction unit extracts a featureamount of the image received by the first image reception unit. Then, astorage unit stores information on the entry area extracted by the entryarea extraction unit and the feature amount extracted by the featureamount extraction unit.

JP-A-2012-198684 discloses an information processing device connected toa feature database that accumulates feature data related to appearancefeatures of a form for each form type. The information processing deviceincludes: an image data acquisition unit that acquires image data of aprocessing target form; a feature data acquisition unit that acquiresfeature data related to the processing target form from the image data;an estimation unit that estimates a form type of the processing targetform by specifying feature data that matches or is similar to thefeature data related to the processing target form from the feature dataaccumulated in the feature database; and a feature data addition unitthat adds the feature data related to the processing target form to thefeature database when the form type of the processing target form is notestimated by the estimation unit.

SUMMARY

A method of confirming presence or absence of a blank portion includes amethod of registering entry portions of an electronic document inadvance and specifying the blank portion based on the registeredinformation, but work of registering the entry portions to be confirmedfor each electronic document in advance is required. Further, when theelectronic document is delivered by a flow of plural steps, the entryportions are different for each step even if the electronic document isthe same, and the work of registering the entry portions for each stepis complicated.

Aspects of non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure relate toan information processing device capable of specifying a blank portionwithout registering an entry portion of an electronic document inadvance.

Aspects of certain non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosureaddress the above advantages and/or other advantages not describedabove. However, aspects of the non-limiting embodiments are not requiredto address the advantages described above, and aspects of thenon-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure may not addressadvantages described above.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided aninformation processing device including a processor configured to: groupelectronic documents that have been processed, based on similaritydegree of the electronic documents into one or more groups; determine agroup, among the one or more groups, to which at least one receivedelectronic document is to belong; determine whether the at least onereceived document is a modified version of one or more electronicdocuments belonging to the determined group, the modified version havingbeen partially modified with respect to the one or more electronicdocuments belonging to the determined group; and specify a blank portionin the at least one received electronic document by comparing the atleast one received electronic document with the one or more electronicdocuments belonging to the determined group.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiment(s) of the present invention will be described indetail based on the following figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view showing a configuration example of an informationprocessing system according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of an imageformation device according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of a schematic operation of theinformation processing system;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example ofa management server according to a first exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 5A to 5C are diagrams comparing an image of a received electronicdocument with an image of an electronic document belonging to adetermined group;

FIGS. 6A to 6C are diagrams comparing before and after writing isperformed by a user;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a schematic operation of the informationprocessing system in a modification of the first exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation of a management serveraccording to the first exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of group information; and

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation of the management serveraccording to the second exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Description of Entire Information Processing System>

FIG. 1 is a view showing a configuration example of an informationprocessing system 1 in the present exemplary embodiments.

The information processing system 1 of the present exemplary embodimentsas shown is configured such that image formation devices 10 a, 10 b,terminal devices 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 d and a management server 30 areconnected via a network 40. When the image formation devices 10 a, 10 bare not distinguished from each other, the image formation devices 10 a,10 b may be may be simply referred to as image formation devices 10hereinafter. When the terminal devices 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 d are notdistinguished from each other, the terminal devices 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20d may be simply referred to as terminal devices 20 hereinafter.

Although only two image formation devices 10 and four terminal devices20 are shown in FIG. 1, the number of each may be any number.

The image formation device 10 is an example of an image processingdevice that performs image processing. The image formation device 10 hasa printer function. That is, the image formation device 10 may form animage on a recording medium such as paper and output the image as aprinting medium. In addition to the printer function, the imageformation device 10 has other image processing functions such as ascanner function and a facsimile function.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of theimage formation device 10.

As shown in the drawing, the image formation device 10 includes acentral processing unit (CPU) 11, a random access memory (RAM) 12, aread only memory (ROM) 13, a hard disk drive (HDD) 14, an operationpanel 15, an image reading unit 16, an image formation unit 17 and acommunication I/F (Interface) 18. These components exchange necessarydata via a bus B.

The CPU 11 loads various programs stored in the ROM 13 or the like intothe RAM 12 and executes the programs to implement functions describedbelow.

The RAM 12 is a memory used as a working memory or the like of the CPU11.

The ROM 13 is a memory for storing the various programs to be executedby the CPU 11.

The HDD 14 is, for example, a magnetic disk device that stores imageinformation read by the image reading unit 16 and image information usedfor image formation in the image formation unit 17.

The operation panel 15 is, for example, a touch panel that displaysvarious types of information and receives operation input from a user.Therefore, a display mechanism includes a display unit such as a liquidcrystal panel that displays content (information content) as an image ina predetermined area, and has a function of detecting a position where acontact object represented by a human finger or a stylus pen contactsthe liquid crystal panel when the contact object comes into contact withthe liquid crystal panel. The touch panel in the exemplary embodimentsis not particularly limited, and various types of touch panels such as aresistance film type and a capacitance type may be used.

The image reading unit 16 reads an image recorded on a document. Here,the image reading unit 16 is, for example, a scanner, and preferablyuses a CCD system in which reflected light of light emitted from a lightsource to a document is reduced by a lens and received by charge coupleddevices (CCD), or a CIS system in which reflected light of light emittedfrom an LED light source to a document in order is received by a contactimage sensor (CIS).

The image formation unit 17 is an example of a printing mechanism thatforms the image on the recording medium. Here, the image formation unit17 is, for example, a printer, and preferably uses anelectrophotographic system that forms an image by transferring tonerattached to a photoconductor to a recording medium such as paper, or aninkjet system that forms an image by ejecting ink onto a recordingmedium.

The communication I/F 18 transmits and receives the various types ofinformation to and from other devices via a network.

In the exemplary embodiments, the CPU 11, the RAM 12 and the ROM 13constitute a control unit 100 that controls each mechanical unit of theimage formation device 10 serving as an own device.

The terminal device 20 creates and authorizes an electronic document asprocessing of the electronic document.

In the exemplary embodiments, the “electronic document” is an electronicversion of character information and image information. As long as theelectronic document may be handled by each of the image formation device10, the terminal device 20 and the management server 30, a format, adata structure and the like thereof are not particularly limited. Here,the user may write by handwriting on the electronic document displayedon the terminal device 20 or on a printed material of the electronicdocument. The electronic document of the exemplary embodiments includes,for example, a form. Specific examples of the form include a quotation,an invoice, an order, an approval and an application.

The terminal device 20 is, for example, a general-purpose personalcomputer (PC). The terminal device 20 operates various types ofapplication software under management of an operating system (OS) so asto create and browse the electronic document.

The management server 30 is an example of an information processingdevice, and is a server computer that manages the entire informationprocessing system 1. The management server 30, for example,authenticates the user of the terminal device 20 and transmits theelectronic document to the terminal device 20. The electronic documentis received from the terminal device 20, and the received electronicdocument is stored. As will be described in detail below, the managementserver 30 performs processing of specifying a blank portion not yetfilled by the user on the electronic document to be used when the imageformation device 10 is used.

The terminal device 20 and the management server 30 include a CPUserving as a calculation unit, a main memory serving as a storage unit,and a storage such as an HDD or a solid state drive (SSD). Here, the CPUis an example of a processor, and executes various types of softwaresuch as basic software (OS) and application software. The main memory isa storage area for storing the various types of software, data used forexecution of the software, and the like. The storage is a storage areafor storing input data to the various types of software, output datafrom the various types of software, and the like.

The terminal device 20 and the management server 30 further include acommunication interface (hereinafter, referred to as “communicationI/F”) for communicating with outside, a display mechanism including avideo memory, a display and the like, and an input device such as akeyboard, a mouse, a touch panel and a stylus pen. The display mechanismfunctions as a display unit that displays the electronic document whenthe electronic document is browsed.

The network 40 is a communication unit used for informationcommunication between the image formation device 10, the terminal device20, and the management server 30, and is, for example, a local areanetwork (LAN) or the Internet.

<Schematic Description of Operation of Information Processing System 1>

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic operation of theinformation processing system 1.

First, a user A who operates the terminal device 20 a creates anelectronic document. At this time, the user A creates the electronicdocument by using the application software such as document creationsoftware or spreadsheet software. That is, the user A is a creator ofthe electronic document. Then, the user A uploads the created electronicdocument to the management server 30 (1A). At this time, the user A mayscan the electronic document by the image formation device 10 a and usethe captured image as the electronic document (1B).

The electronic document uploaded by the user A is sent to the managementserver 30 via the network 40. Then, the management server 30 stores theelectronic document, and groups electronic documents by a methoddescribed in detail below (1C).

The electronic document stored in the management server 30 is downloadedby a user B who operates the terminal device 20 b as necessary (1D).

Then, the user B prints the downloaded electronic document by using theimage formation device 10 b as a printed material (1E). Then, the user Bwrites a necessary matter on the printed material by handwriting.

The user B scans the printed material in which the necessary matter iswritten by using the image formation device 10 b, and captures an imageof the written printed material (1F). Then, the user B uploads thecaptured image as an electronic document to the management server 30(1G).

At this time, the user B may display the downloaded electronic documenton the terminal device 20 b without printing the downloaded electronicdocument, and write on the displayed screen using the input device. Atthis time, writing may be performed by handwriting by using the mouse orthe stylus pen.

The electronic document uploaded by the user B is sent to the managementserver 30 via the network 40. Then, the management server 30 stores theelectronic document, and compares the electronic document with theelectronic document stored in the past by a method described in detailbelow. Then, it is detected whether there is a blank portion (1H). Here,the “blank portion” refers to a portion in the electronic document notyet filled by the user although the portion should originally be filled.

Then, when there is a blank portion, the terminal device 20 b isnotified or warned (1I). The user B fills the blank portion in the aboveprocedure, and uploads the corrected electronic document to themanagement server 30 again (1J). Then, the corrected electronic documentis stored in the storage of the management server 30 (1K).

In the above example, the user A creates the electronic document, butthe electronic document does not necessarily need to be created by theuser who uses the information processing system 1. For example, anelectronic document published on the Internet may be used. This applies,for example, when an application handled by an administrative agency isdownloaded from a website of the administrative agency and used. In thiscase, the above processing 1A and 1B is not necessary.

First Exemplary Embodiment

Next, the management server 30 will be described in detail. Here, first,a first exemplary embodiment of the management server 30 will bedescribed. In the first exemplary embodiment, the management server 30specifies a blank portion from an electronic document filled by a user.

<Description of Functional Configuration of Management Server 30>

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example ofthe management server 30 according to the first exemplary embodiment.

Here, among various functions of the management server 30, those relatedto the present exemplary embodiment are selected and shown.

The management server 30 includes a transmission and reception unit 31that transmits and receives information to and from an external device,a sorting unit 32 that groups electronic documents, a storage unit 33that stores the electronic documents, a determination unit 34 thatdetermines a group to which the electronic document belongs, and aspecifying unit 35 that specifies the blank portion of the electronicdocument.

The transmission and reception unit 31 transmits and receives theelectronic document to and from the terminal device 20. That is, thetransmission and reception unit 31 is an example of a reception unitthat receives the electronic document. The transmission and receptionunit 31 corresponds to, for example, the communication I/F or the CPU.

The sorting unit 32 groups the electronic documents processed in thepast based on similarity degree of the electronic documents, and storesthe electronic documents in the storage unit 33. That is, the sortingunit 32 groups the electronic documents processed in the past intoplural groups in advance. The electronic documents belonging to each ofthe plural groups are, for example, electronic documents based on thesame form. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the electronicdocument created by the user A and the electronic document in which theuser B has written the necessary matter based on the electronic documentcreated by the user A are grouped into the same group. On the otherhand, different forms are grouped into other groups.

A range of the electronic documents to be grouped by the sorting unit 32may be determined in advance. For example, all the electronic documentsreceived by the management server 30 may be used. In addition, a rangeof the electronic documents handled by a predetermined department or auser may be used. Further, the electronic documents generated byscanning with a predetermined image formation device 10 may be used. Inthis case, the image formation device 10 may be a single device orplural devices. In addition to scan data generated by scanning by theimage formation device 10, printing data printed by the image formationdevice 10 may also be the target electronic document.

The storage unit 33 stores the electronic documents grouped by thesorting unit 32. The storage unit 33 may store history of creation andsubmission of the electronic documents. The storage unit 33 correspondsto, for example, the main memory or the storage.

The storage unit 33 assigns a group ID for each group. Thereby, theelectronic documents stored are managed for each group. The group ID isstored as group information together with the electronic documents. Aswill be described in detail below, other information may also be storedas the group information.

The determination unit 34 determines to which group sorted by thesorting unit 32 the electronic document received by the transmission andreception unit 31 is to belong. That is, when the electronic document isreceived by the transmission and reception unit 31, the determinationunit 34 determines which group sorted in advance by the sorting unit 32the electronic document belongs to.

The determination unit 34 may use an existing matching determinationtechnology in order to determine the similarity degree of the electronicdocuments. The determination unit 34 determines, for example, thesimilarity degree based on structures of formats of the electronicdocuments.

Specifically, there is a method of determining the similarity degreebased on positions of tables, drawings and texts. When the positions ofthe tables, the drawings and the texts substantially match, it isdetermined that the electronic documents belong to the same group. Thereis also a method of determining the similarity degree based on ruledlines of the tables. That is, the ruled lines described in theelectronic documents are extracted. If the numbers of intersections ofthe ruled lines match, and coordinates of the intersections in theelectronic documents almost match, it is determined that the electronicdocuments belong to the same group.

Further, when predetermined portions of the electronic documents aresubjected to optical character reader (OCR) processing and characterstrings at the portions match, it may be determined that the electronicdocuments belong to the same group. The predetermined portion is, forexample, an upper part or an upper right part of the electronicdocument, and a part where a predetermined item such as “quotation”,“invoice”, “order”, “approval” or “application” is described isselected.

At this time, the determination unit 34 determines the similarity degreebetween the received electronic document and the electronic documentprocessed in the past. When the similarity degree is high, it isdetermined that the received electronic document and the electronicdocument processed in the past belong to the same group. The electronicdocument processed in the past for determining the similarity degree maybe one representative among plural electronic documents belonging toeach group. In addition, comparison may be performed using a part of theplural electronic documents, or all the electronic documents.

The determination unit 34 uses, for example, a difference between imagesto determine the similarity degree. That is, an image of the differencebetween an image of the received electronic document and an image of theelectronic document processed in the past is created. In the image ofthe difference, areas different from each other in these images areextracted. When an difference amount is within a predetermined range,the similarity degree is high, and it is determined that theseelectronic documents belong to the same group. When the differenceamount is out of the predetermined range, it is determined that theseelectronic documents belong to different groups.

The difference amount may be, for example, the number of pixels atdifferent portions and a ratio of the number of pixels at differentportions to the total number of pixels. For example, if the ratio of thenumber of pixels as the difference amount is within ±5%, thedetermination unit 34 determines that these electronic documents belongto the same group. When the ratio is out of this range, that is, whenthe ratio of the number of pixels as the difference amount is smallerthan −5% or larger than 5%, it is determined that these electronicdocuments belong to different groups.

When plural groups satisfies this condition, the determination unit 34may select a group whose difference amount is closer to 0%. In addition,the determination unit 34 may select a group depending on whether apredetermined item in the electronic document matches. The item is, forexample, a word indicating a type of the electronic document, andspecifically, corresponds to words such as “quotation”, “invoice”,“order”, “approval” and “application”.

When the electronic document is the printing data, the determinationunit 34 may determine to which group the electronic document is tobelong by further using information of a file name assigned to theelectronic document. For example, in a case where the electronicdocument is the printing data, the same or similar file name is oftenassigned when the original electronic document is the same. For example,the file names may be “∘×Δ”, “∘×Δ1”, “∘×Δ modified”, “∘×Δ final version”and the like. In this case, a part of “∘×Δ” is common. Therefore, basedon this, the determination unit 34 may find a group in which theelectronic document having a file name including “∘×Δ” exists, andestimate that the received electronic document is to belong to thisgroup. On the other hand, the image formation device 10 oftenautomatically assigns a file name to the electronic document generatedby user scanning. The automatically assigned file name is often greatlydifferent from the file name of the original electronic document. Forexample, the file name may be a date+time. Therefore, when theelectronic document is the printing data, it is possible to determine towhich group the electronic document is to belong based on theinformation of the file name of the electronic document.

The specifying unit 35 specifies the blank portion in the receivedelectronic document by comparing the received electronic document withthe electronic document belonging to the group determined by thedetermination unit 34.

For this comparison, the specifying unit 35 specifies the blank portionbased on the difference between the image of each electronic documentbelonging to the group determined by the determination unit 34 and theimage of the received electronic document. That is, the differencebetween the image of the received the electronic document and the imageof each electronic document belonging to the determined group iscreated. In this difference, areas different from each other in theseimages are extracted. Then, regarding the received electronic document,an area where the difference is negative is defined as the blankportion. Here, “the difference is negative” means that there is adescription in the past electronic document, but no description in thereceived electronic document. That is, when the received electronicdocument has the blank portion, this portion may be specified bydetecting the negative difference. In reality, when the differenceamount is within the predetermined range, the specifying unit 35specifies a portion where the difference exists as the blank portion.For example, the specifying unit 35 specifies a portion where adifference amount X is, for example, −5%≤X≤0% as the blank portion. Onthe contrary, when there is no description in the past electronicdocument while there is a description in the received electronicdocument, it may be said that “the difference is positive”. Thisapplies, for example, when the electronic document is modified anddescription matters are increased.

FIGS. 5A to 5C are diagrams comparing the image of the receivedelectronic document with the image of the electronic document belongingto the determined group.

Among these, FIG. 5A is the image of the received electronic document,and FIG. 5B is the image of the electronic document belonging to thedetermined group. FIG. 5C shows the blank portion extracted based on theimage in FIG. 5A and the image in FIG. 5B.

Here, as shown in FIG. 5A, the received electronic document has a blankportion M1 and entry portions K1 filled by the user. In FIG. 5B, aportion of the blank portion M1 is filled as an entry portion K2. InFIG. 5B, the entry portions K1 in FIG. 5A are similarly filled and areshown as entry portions K3. Then, by obtaining a difference betweenthese images, the blank portion M1 in FIG. 5A is extracted as an areawhere the difference is negative as shown in FIG. 5C. The blank portionM1 may be presented to the user by, for example, being surrounded by aframe and displayed in red or highlighted.

When the electronic document is the printing data, the specifying unit35 may specify it as a blank electronic document. On the other hand,when the electronic document is not the printing data, the specifyingunit 35 may specify it as a filled electronic document. The printingdata corresponds to, for example, the electronic document created by theapplication software such as the document creation software or thespreadsheet software. When the electronic document is not the printingdata, for example, electronic document is scan data generated byscanning by the image formation device 10 or photograph data captured bya camera.

That is, in a case where the electronic document is the printing data,the electronic document is often the one before the user writes thenecessary matter. In the example described above with reference to FIG.3, it is the electronic document created by the user A, and the user Bprints the electronic document with the image formation device 10 b. Onthe other hand, the electronic document generated by scanning by theimage formation device 10 is often an electronic document on which theuser has written the necessary matter. In the example described abovewith reference to FIG. 3, it is the electronic document generated byscanning the printed material in which the necessary matter is written,by the user B, by using the image formation device 10 b.

FIGS. 6A to 6C are diagrams comparing before and after writing isperformed by the user.

Among them, FIG. 6A is an image of the printing data, and shows a statebefore the user performs the writing. FIG. 6B is an image of the scandata, and shows a state after the user performs the writing. FIG. 6C isan image of a difference between the image in FIG. 6A and the image inFIG. 6B.

Here, as shown in FIG. 6A, the image of the printing data occupies arange of an area R1. Then, as shown in FIG. 6B, the user writes in entryareas R2. Then, the image of the difference between these images is asshown in FIG. 6C, and the entry areas R2 of the user are extracted.

In this case, when the electronic document is received, the specifyingunit 35 first obtains the difference between the received electronicdocument and the printing data. The specifying unit 35 specifies aportion the user has filled where the difference between the printingdata and the received electronic document exists. Thereby, the entryareas R2 that are areas to be filled by the user may be specified. Then,by processing as described in FIG. 5, accuracy of specifying the blankportion is improved.

The sorting unit 32, the determination unit 34 and the specifying unit35 correspond to, for example, the CPU.

<Modification>

Next, a modification of the first exemplary embodiment will bedescribed.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a schematic operation of the informationprocessing system 1 in the modification of the first exemplaryembodiment.

First, the user A who operates the terminal device 20 a creates anelectronic document. Then, the user A submits the created electronicdocument (2A).

The electronic document is sent to the management server 30. Then, themanagement server 30 sends the electronic document to another useraccording to a predetermined order. In this case, the electronicdocument is sent to the user B (2B). The user B operates the terminaldevice 20 b to inspect the electronic document created by the user A.That is, the user B is an inspector of the electronic document. If thereis no problem in content of the electronic document, the user B performsauthorization.

When the electronic document is authorized by the user B, the electronicdocument is sent to the management server 30. Further, the managementserver 30 sends the electronic document to the user C (2C). The user Coperates the terminal device 20 c to further authorize the electronicdocument inspected by the user B. That is, the user C is an authorizerof the electronic document. If there is no problem in the content of theelectronic document, the user C performs authorization.

When the electronic document is authorized by the user C, the electronicdocument is sent to the management server 30. Further, the managementserver 30 sends the electronic document to the user D (2D). The user Doperates the terminal device 20 d to further perform final authorizationof the electronic document authorized by the user C. That is, the user Dis a final authorizer of the electronic document. If there is no problemin the content of the electronic document, the user D performsauthorization.

When the electronic document is authorized by the user D, the electronicdocument is sent to the management server 30 and stored in a storage ofthe management server 30 (2E).

In this way, the electronic document is delivered by the users A to Dhere. Then, this flow includes four steps 2A to 2D in which the users Ato D process the electronic document.

The electronic document created and authorize by the users may be scandata scanned by the image formation device 10, or may be printing data.

In the exemplary embodiment, the management server 30 specifies a blankportion for the electronic document sent from each of the user B, theuser C, the user D. Thereby, the management server 30 performs a checkat each step of the flow in which the same electronic document isdelivered, so that the electronic document having the blank portion maybe prevented from going to the next step.

In this case, the sorting unit 32 needs to group the electronic documentfor each step of the flow in which the same electronic document isdelivered. However, in this case, an amount of writing added to eachelectronic document at each step may be small. For example, there may beonly a difference in whether a seal has been stamped when the user B,the user C, the user D authorize.

In this case, in order for the determination unit 34 to determine agroup, the determination unit 34 modifies a difference amount accordingto a type of the electronic document. That is, the determination unit 34performs setting to reduce the difference amount for determining whetherthe electronic document to be delivered by such a flow belongs to thesame group. Thereby, the group may be determined even if there is onlythe difference in whether the seal for authorization is stamped. Thedetermination unit 34 may also determine the same electronic documentwhen the predetermined item matches according to the similarity degree.For example, since it is based on the same electronic document, wordssuch as “quotation”, “invoice”, “order”, “approval” and “application” donot change. Therefore, the determination unit 34 may determine the groupby viewing this item. However, in this case, an administrator whomanages the management server 30 needs to set the item in advance.

The modification described above is particularly effective when thereare a few types of electronic documents to be handled.

In addition, the determination unit 34 may modify the difference amountfor the electronic document whose portion to be filled changes. Theelectronic document whose portion to be filled changes is an electronicdocument in which the portion to be filled is different depending on astate of a user. This is, for example, an electronic document thatdescribes a parent field. In this case, both a father and a mother maybe described, but only one of the father and the mother may be describedin a case of a single parent. In this case, the portion to be filled oran amount to be filled changes. By setting the difference amount to amore appropriate amount for such an electronic document, thedetermination unit 34 may accurately determine to which group thereceived electronic document is to belong.

<Description of Operation of Management Server 30>

Next, an operation of the management server 30 in the first exemplaryembodiment will be described.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the management server 30according to the first exemplary embodiment.

First, the transmission and reception unit 31 receives the electronicdocument from the terminal device 20 (step 101).

Next, the determination unit 34 determines which group the electronicdocument received by the transmission and reception unit 31 belongs to(step 102). As described above, this is determined by determining thesimilarity degree based on the difference between the image of thereceived electronic document and the image of the electronic documentbelonging to the group or the file name of the electronic document.

Further, the specifying unit 35 specifies the blank portion of thereceived electronic document (step 103). As described above, as thedifference between the image of the received electronic document and theimage of each electronic document belonging to the group determined bythe determination unit 34, a portion where the negative difference isgenerated is defined as the blank portion.

Then, the specifying unit 35 determines whether the blank portion exists(step 104).

As a result, when there is no blank portion (No in step 104), thesorting unit 32 sorts the received electronic document into the groupdetermined by the determination unit 34 and stores the electronicdocument in the storage unit 33 (step 105). At this time, the sortingunit 32 stores the group ID and the like described above as the groupinformation.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the group information.

The group information shown in the drawing is group information for onegroup, and actually, the group information exists as many pieces as thenumber of groups.

The group information includes the group ID, the number ofintersections, an OCR result, the coordinates of the intersections, thenumber of pieces of stored data, stored data 1 to n, and entry areacoordinates.

The number of intersections is the number of intersections of the ruledlines described above. The coordinates of intersections are coordinatesof the intersections of ruled lines. The OCR result is a result of OCRat a predetermined portion in the electronic document described above,and is, for example, an item such as the quotation, the invoice or thelike. The number of stored data is the number of electronic documentsbelonging to the group. Further, the stored data 1 to n are data of theelectronic documents. Here, n electronic documents belong to the group.The stored data 1 to n may be included and stored in the groupinformation, or may be stored separately from the group information. Theentry area coordinates are coordinates of the entry areas R2 (see FIG.6) in these electronic documents, and are coordinates of portions filledby the user.

With reference back to FIG. 8, in step 104, when the blank portion exits(Yes in step 104), a warning is issued to the terminal device 20 (step106). The warning notifies the user of the blank portion. As thewarning, for example, a method such as displaying the electronicdocument and displaying the blank portion by coloring in red orsurrounding with a red frame may be considered.

Then, the transmission and reception unit 31 determines whether themodified electronic document has been received (step 107).

As a result, if not received (No in step 107), the processing returns tostep 106.

On the other hand, if received (Yes in step 107), the processing returnsto step 103.

By the management server 30 performing such an operation, the receivedelectronic document is sorted by the sorting unit 32 to the groupdetermined by the determination unit 34, and is stored by the storageunit 33. Therefore, when one electronic document is received, the numberof electronic documents belonging to any group is increased by one.Thereby, the processed electronic documents are grouped and accumulated.When the received electronic document is a new electronic documentdifferent from the past electronic documents, the sorting unit 32performs sorting by creating a new group.

Second Exemplary Embodiment

Next, a second exemplary embodiment of the management server 30 will bedescribed. In the second exemplary embodiment, the management server 30not only specifies a blank portion of a user in a received electronicdocument h but also detects whether the electronic document is amodified version.

<Description of Functional Configuration of Management Server 30>

A functional configuration example of the management server 30 of thesecond exemplary embodiment is the same as in FIG. 4. That is, themanagement server 30 includes the transmission and reception unit 31,the sorting unit 32, the storage unit 33, the determination unit 34 andthe specifying unit 35. Functions of the transmission and reception unit31, the sorting unit 32, the storage unit 33 and the specifying unit 35are the same as those in the first exemplary embodiment. On the otherhand, the determination unit 34 in the second exemplary embodiment hasfunctions in addition to functions of the determination unit 34 in thefirst exemplary embodiment. Therefore, the determination unit 34 will bemainly described below.

As in the first exemplary embodiment, the determination unit 34determines to which group sorted by the sorting unit 32 the receivedelectronic document is to belong.

In the second exemplary embodiment, in addition to this, thedetermination unit 34 determines that the received electronic documentis a modified version in which the electronic document belonging to thedetermined group is partially modified. Here, the “modified version” isan electronic document whose part is modified with respect to theoriginal electronic document. This may also be said that the “modifiedversion” is the electronic document that has undergone a minor changewith respect to the original electronic document.

That is, a small modification in the electronic document may begenerated routinely. For example, a date, an orderer, a person incharge, an address of an own company or the like may be modified for aninvoice, a quotation or the like. For example, this applies when asystem is modified in a new year or when a new nursery school item isadded regarding an application for entering a nursery school. Forexample, this applies when a format is modified due to law revision in afinancial institution. For example, a signature field for securityenhancement may be newly added to prevent international moneylaundering. In addition, terms of a contract may be modified.

In this way, in a case where the electronic document is modified, whenthe determination unit 34 determines the group, similarity degree ofother groups may be higher than similarity degree of the group of theoriginal electronic document. Then, the determination unit 34 maydetermine that the modified version belongs to another group differentfrom the group of the original electronic document before the change.Therefore, if it is possible to determine whether the receivedelectronic document is the modified version, accuracy of grouping isfurther improved.

Therefore, in the second exemplary embodiment, the determination unit 34determines whether the received electronic document is the modifiedversion.

Specifically, as in the first exemplary embodiment, the determinationunit 34 obtains a difference between an image of each electronicdocument belonging to the determined group and an image of the receivedelectronic document. Then, it is determined whether the receivedelectronic document is the modified version based on the difference.

A more specific example of this matter will be described below.

When a tendency of the difference is different from the related art, thedetermination unit 34 estimates that the received electronic document isthe modified version. That is, when a difference generated in thereceived electronic document has a predetermined change compared with adifference generated in the electronic document belonging to the groupand processed in the past, the determination unit 34 estimates that thereceived electronic document is the modified version.

The “when a difference has a predetermined change” is, for example, thefollowing case.

(Change in Difference Amount)

A difference amount in a related-art electronic document is, forexample, −2%, and in the received electronic document, when becoming−4%, the difference amount changes. This is generated, for example, whenthe modified version in which the number of fields to be described isincreased is received. An example in which the number of fields isincreased corresponds to a case where the number of authorizers isincreased.

(Positive and Negative Change in Difference Amount)

The difference amount in the related-art electronic document is, forexample, −2%, and in the received electronic document, when becoming 2%,the difference amount changes from negative to positive. This isgenerated, for example, when the modified version in which options ofthe user are increased is received. An example in which the options ofthe user are increased corresponds to a case where the number of nurseryschools that may be selected is increased in the modified versioncompared with the original electronic document regarding the applicationfor entering the nursery school.

(Change in Portion where Difference is Generated)

This is a case where a portion where a difference in the receivedelectronic document is generated changes as compared with a portionwhere a difference is generated in the related-art electronic document.This applies, for example, when a portion where a seal is stamped ismoved.

A type of the electronic document may be clearly specified by an itemsuch as the invoice or the quotation, and there is no difference inthis, but the change is generated in other portions in the modifiedversion.

When a large positive difference is generated only in a part of an area,it means that a matter not added to the related-art electronic documentis added in the received electronic document. For example, except forthat the terms of the contract are the same, terms to be confirmed arenewly added in the modified version.

(Color Change)

In contrast to the related-art electronic document, the receivedelectronic document has a difference in consideration of color, but whenbinarized into black and white, the difference may not be generated.This means that the color changes in the modified version. For example,a color of the seal may change from red to blue in the modified version.

Next, the determination unit 34 performs a predetermined determinationon the electronic document estimated as the modified version, anddetermines whether the received electronic document is the modifiedversion.

In the “predetermined determination”, the determination unit 34 finds afeature point of the difference, and determines that the receivedelectronic document is the modified version when the feature pointsatisfies a predetermined condition. This is, for example, the followingcases:

(Inquiry to User)

When there is an answer that the received electronic document is themodified version as a result of an inquiry to the user, the modifiedversion is determined. At this time, the determination unit 34 maydisplay, for example, the related-art electronic document and thereceived electronic document side by side, and present the user with theportion where the difference is generated. Thereby, even when the personin charge changes, the user may determine whether the receivedelectronic document is the modified version. In this case, the featurepoint of the difference is the answer of the user to the portion wherethe difference is generated, and the determination unit 34 determinesthat the received electronic document is the modified version when theanswer of the user is the modified version.

(Difference Amount)

When the difference amount in the related-art electronic document is,for example, −2%, and when the difference amount in the receivedelectronic document is within ±1% from the difference amount of therelated-art electronic document of −2% (that is, −1% or smaller and −3%or larger), the determination unit 34 determines that the receivedelectronic document is the modified version. In this case, the featurepoint of the difference is the difference amount, and the determinationunit 34 determines that the received electronic document is the modifiedversion when the difference amount is within a predetermined range.Here, the difference amount serving as a reference is the differenceamount in the related-art electronic document, but the reference may be0% without difference.

(Reception Time)

When a predetermined number or more of electronic documents having thesame difference amount are received within a predetermined period, thedetermination unit 34 determines that these are the modified version. Inthis case, feature points of the difference are time when the samedifference is generated, the difference amount and the number ofreceived electronic documents. In this case, the feature point isexemplified by a case where plural received electronic documents are inthe same group and has approximately the same difference. Then, when thepredetermined number or more of electronic documents having thedifference amount within a predetermined range are received within thepredetermined period, the determination unit 34 determines that theseare the modified version.

(Reception from Plural People)

When the electronic documents having the same difference amount arereceived from plural people, the determination unit 34 determines thatthese are the modified version. In this case, the feature point of thedifference is the number of users and the difference amount. In thiscase, the feature point is exemplified by the case where the pluralreceived electronic documents are in the same group and hasapproximately the same difference. Then, when the electronic documentshaving the difference amount within the predetermined range are receivedfrom the plural people, the determination unit 34 determines that theseare the modified version.

(Confirmation of Modification)

When a modification is confirmed by the Internet, a database or the likefor the portion where the difference is generated, the determinationunit 34 determines that the received electronic document is the modifiedversion. For example, an address modification due to relocation of ahead office or a branch office may be confirmed by an inquiry to theInternet, the database or the like. In this case, the feature point ofthe difference is that the modification is confirmed for the portionwhere the difference is generated, and the determination unit 34determines that the received document is the modified version when themodification is confirmed for the portion where the difference isgenerated.

(Modified Object)

When the portion where the difference is generated is a modification ofa predetermined type such as a modification of a form of the electronicdocument or an addition of a number, the determination unit 34determines that the received document is the modified version. In thiscase, the feature point of the difference is that the portion where thedifference is generated is a predetermined type. For example, thedetermination unit 34 distinguishes between a printed part and ahandwritten part of the electronic document, and when the portion wherethe difference is generated is the printed part, the determination unit34 determines that the received document is the modified version. Thatis, the determination unit 34 finds the feature point by distinguishingbetween an entry portion that is a portion described by the user andother portions. In this case, in anticipation of registration of themodified version, the user may create in advance an instruction or modeindicating that the form or number may change or be added.

(Modification Other than Predetermined Item)

When the portion where the difference is generated is other than itemssuch as a quotation, an invoice, an order, an approval and anapplication, the determination unit 34 determines that the receiveddocument is the modified version. In this case, the feature point of thedifference is that the portion where the difference is generated isother than a predetermined item. The feature point is exemplified by acase where plural received electronic documents are in the same groupand have a predetermined portion that does not change. The determinationunit 34 determines the predetermined item, and when the portion wherethe difference is generated other than this, the determination unit 34determines that the received document is the modified version.

When there are plural groups corresponding to the received electronicdocuments, the determination unit 34 selects the group determined to bethe modified version. When it is determined that both are the modifiedversion, or when it is determined that both are not the modifiedversion, the determination unit 34 may select a group whose differenceamount is closer to 0%.

The determination unit 34 may divide the electronic document intopredetermined sections and compare each section to determine whether thereceived document is the modified version. That is, if a method ofobtaining the entire difference is employed for obtaining the abovedifference, the entire difference may appear as a large difference. Forexample, in a case where the number of lines in the written documentchanges, even though it is a little different when viewed partially, itmay appear as the large difference due to an image shift. That is, evena minor change may result in the large difference.

In order to prevent this, the determination unit 34 divides the sectionby a predetermined symbol in the electronic document. The symbol is, forexample, “I”, “II”, “III”, (1), (2), (3) representing a unit, a spacedescribed at a beginning of a paragraph, a ruled line of a table, or thelike. That is, the determination unit 34 divides the section by usingthe symbol as a mark. Then, the determination unit 34 extracts adifference for each section. Then, if the number of sections is the samebut a difference appears only in some sections, the electronic documentmay be determined to be the modified version.

<Description of Operation of Management Server 30>

Next, an operation of the management server 30 in the second exemplaryembodiment will be described.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the management server 30according to the second exemplary embodiment.

Since steps 201 to 202 are the same as steps 101 to 102 in FIG. 8,description thereof will be omitted.

After step 203, the determination unit 34 determines whether thedifference generated in the received electronic document has thepredetermined change (step 203). The predetermined change corresponds toa case where the difference amount and the portion where the differenceis generated in the electronic document described above change.

As a result, when the difference has the predetermined change (Yes instep 203), the determination unit 34 finds the feature point of thedifference, and determines whether the feature point satisfies thepredetermined condition (step 204). The feature point of the differencecorresponds to the difference amount or the reception time describedabove.

When the feature point satisfies the predetermined condition (Yes instep 204), the determination unit 34 determines that the receivedelectronic document is the modified version (step 205).

On the other hand, when the difference does not have the predeterminedchange (No in step 203) and when the feature point does not satisfy thepredetermined condition (No in step 204), the determination unit 34determines that the received electronic document is not the modifiedversion (step 206).

The following steps 207 to 211 are the same as steps 103 to 107 in FIG.8. However, in step 209, the sorting unit 32 groups the receivedelectronic document, stores the received electronic document in thestorage unit 33, and stores information indicating that the receivedelectronic document is the modified version as group information.

According to the first exemplary embodiment, the information processingdevice or the like capable of specifying the blank portion withoutregistering the entry portion of the electronic document in advance maybe provided. Thereby, a burden on the administrator who manages theinformation processing system 1 may be reduced. The user may replenishthe blank portion. The accuracy of grouping may further be improved byreplenishing the blank portion and eliminating the blank portion.

According to the second exemplary embodiment, in addition to this,whether the received electronic document is the modified version may bedetermined, and the accuracy of grouping is further improved.

In the example described above, the management server 30 specifies theblank portion and determines the modified version, but the presentinvention is not limited thereto. For example, the terminal device 20may make performance. The image formation device 10 may also makeperformance.

Although not mentioned in the example described above, the managementserver 30 may not only specify the blank portion and allow the user tomake a correction, but may thereafter perform other processing such asprocessing specified by the user. Another example of the processing isprocessing such as transferring a scanned electronic document to anotherdevice. In addition, when the user is asked to confirm the blank portionand the user determines that it is not the blank portion, the portionmay be prevented from being treated as the blank portion.

The sorting unit 32 extracts the entry areas R2 (see FIG. 6) in thegroup, and when there are electronic documents different from others,the sorting unit 32 may delete these electronic documents from the groupand sort the electronic documents into a new group. Thereby, theaccuracy of grouping is further improved.

When a large number of electronic documents are accumulated in the groupand the entry areas R2 in the electronic document are clearer, thespecifying unit 35 may specify the blank portion by using the entry areacoordinates shown in FIG. 9. That is, since the coordinates of theportion described by the user are known based on the entry areacoordinates, it is determined that the portion is the blank portion whenthere is no entry there.

Then, accuracy of the entry areas R2 may be improved by asking the userto confirm the entry areas R2.

<Description of Program>

Here, the processing performed by the management server 30 of thepresent exemplary embodiment described above is prepared as a programsuch as software. The program is implemented by cooperation of softwareand hardware resources.

Therefore, in the first exemplary embodiment, a program that executesprocessing performed by the management server 30 may also be regarded asa program that causes a computer to implement: a sorting function ofgrouping electronic documents processed in the past based on similaritydegree of the electronic documents; a reception function of receiving anelectronic document; a determination function of determining which groupsorted by the sorting function the electronic document received by thereception function corresponds to; and a specifying function ofspecifying a blank portion in the received electronic document bycomparing the received electronic document with the electronic documentbelonging to the group determined by the determination function.

In addition, in the second exemplary embodiment, a program that executesprocessing performed by the management server 30 may also be regarded asa program that causes a computer to implement: a sorting function ofgrouping electronic documents processed in the past based on similaritydegree of the electronic documents; determination function ofdetermining which group sorted by the sorting function a receivedelectronic document corresponds to and determining that the receivedelectronic document is a modified version in which the electronicdocument belonging to the group is partially modified; and a specifyingfunction of specifying a blank portion in the received electronicdocument by comparing the received electronic document with theelectronic document belonging to the determined group.

The program for implementing the exemplary embodiments may be providednot only by communication means but also by being stored in a recordingmedium such as a CD-ROM.

In the embodiments above, the term “processor” refers to hardware in abroad sense. Examples of the processor includes general processors(e.g., CPU: Central Processing Unit), dedicated processors (e.g., GPU:Graphics Processing Unit, ASIC: Application Integrated Circuit, FPGA:Field Programmable Gate Array, and programmable logic device).

In the embodiments above, the term “processor” is broad enough toencompass one processor or plural processors in collaboration which arelocated physically apart from each other but may work cooperatively. Theorder of operations of the processor is not limited to one described inthe embodiments above, and may be changed.

The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention has been provided for the purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modificationsand variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and its practical applications, therebyenabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments and with the various modifications as are suited tothe particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of theinvention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.

[1] According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided aninformation processing device including a processor configured to

-   -   group electronic documents that have been processed, based on        similarity degree of the electronic documents into one or more        group,    -   receive an electronic document,    -   determine a group, among the one or more groups, to which the        received electronic document is to belong, and    -   specify a blank portion in the received electronic document by        comparing the received electronic document with one or more        electronic documents belonging to the determined group.

[2] In the information processing device according to [1], the processormay specify the blank portion based on a difference between at least oneimage of the one or more electronic documents belonging to thedetermined group and an image of the received electronic document.

[3] In the information processing device according to [2], in a casewhere a difference amount of the difference is within a predeterminedrange, the processor may determine a portion where the difference existsas the blank portion.

[4] In the information processing device according to [3], the processormay correct the predetermined range according to a type of the one ormore electronic document and the received electronic document.

[5] In the information processing device according to [4], the processormay correct the predetermined range for an electronic document with avariable entry portion.

[6] In the information processing device according to [1], in a casewhere the received electronic document is printing data, the processormay specify the received electronic document as a blank electronicdocument.

[7] In the information processing device according to [6], in a casewhere the received electronic document is not the printing data, theprocessor may specify the received electronic document as a filledelectronic document, and specify a portion where a difference between animage based on the printing data and an image of the received electronicdocument exists as a portion filled by a user.

[8] In the information processing device according to [6], in a casewhere the received electronic document is the printing data, theprocessor may determine the group to which the received electronicdocument is to belong based on information of a file name assigned tothe received electronic document.

[9] In the information processing device according to [1], the processormay group the electronic documents for each step in a flow in which asame electronic document is delivered.

[10] In the information processing device according to [9], theprocessor may determine the same electronic document in a case where apredetermined item matches.

[11] According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided aninformation processing system including:

an image processing device that performs image processing; and

an information processing device that performs processing to specify ablank portion which has not been written in by a user on an electronicdocument used with the image processing device, wherein

the information processing device includes a processor configured to

-   -   group electronic documents that have been processed, based on        similarity degree of the electronic documents into one or more        group,    -   receive an electronic document,    -   determine a group, among the one or more groups, to which the        received electronic document is to belong, and    -   specify a blank portion in the received electronic document by        comparing the received electronic document with one or more        electronic documents belonging to the determined group.

[12] According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided anon-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing acomputer to execute a process including:

grouping electronic documents that have been processed, based onsimilarity degree of the electronic documents into one or more group,

receiving an electronic document,

determining a group, among the one or more groups, to which the receivedelectronic document is to belong, and

specifying a blank portion in the received electronic document bycomparing the received electronic document with one or more electronicdocuments belonging to the determined group.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing device comprising: aprocessor configured to group electronic documents that have beenprocessed, based on a similarity degree of the electronic documents intoone or more groups; determine a group, among the one or more groups, towhich at least one received electronic document is to belong; determinewhether the at least one received document is a modified version of oneor more electronic documents belonging to the determined group based ona difference between at least one image of the one or more electronicdocuments belonging to the determined group and an image of the at leastone received electronic document, the modified version having beenpartially modified with respect to the one or more electronic documentsbelonging to the determined group; and specify a blank portion in the atleast one received electronic document by comparing the at least onereceived electronic document with the one or more electronic documentsbelonging to the determined group.
 2. The information processing deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to estimatethat the at least one received electronic document is the modifiedversion in a case where a predetermined change from the difference amongthe one or more electronic documents belonging to the determined groupto the difference between the at least one image of the one or moreelectronic documents belonging to the determined group and the image ofthe at least one received electronic document is found.
 3. Theinformation processing device according to claim 2, wherein theprocessor is configured to estimate that the at least one receivedelectronic document is the modified version in a case where thepredetermined change is found in at least one of a difference amount,and a portion where the difference occurs in the electronic documents.4. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein theprocessor is configured to find a difference feature point, anddetermine that the at least one received electronic document is themodified version in a case where the difference feature point satisfiesa predetermined condition.
 5. The information processing deviceaccording to claim 4, wherein the at least one received documentincludes a plurality of received documents, the processor finds thedifference feature point in a case where the plurality of receivedelectronic documents is determined as belonging to a same group and adifference among the plurality of received documents is within apredetermined range.
 6. The information processing device according toclaim 4, wherein the at least one received document includes a pluralityof received documents, the processor finds the difference feature pointin a case where the plurality of received electronic documents isdetermined as belonging to a same group and there is a predeterminedunmodified portion in each of the plurality of received electronicdocuments.
 7. The information processing device according to claim 4,wherein the processor finds the difference feature point bydistinguishing between an entry portion written in by a user and otherportions.
 8. The information processing device according to claim 1,wherein the processor is configured to find a difference feature point,and determine that the at least one received electronic document is themodified version in a case where the difference feature point satisfiesa predetermined condition.
 9. The information processing deviceaccording to claim 8, wherein the at least one received documentincludes a plurality of received documents, the processor finds thedifference feature point in a case where the plurality of receivedelectronic documents is determined as belonging to a same group and adifference among the plurality of received documents is within apredetermined range.
 10. The information processing device according toclaim 8, wherein the at least one received document includes a pluralityof received documents, the processor finds the difference feature pointin a case where the plurality of received electronic documents isdetermined as belonging to a same group and there is a predeterminedunmodified portion in each of the plurality of received electronicdocuments.
 11. The information processing device according to claim 8,wherein the processor finds the difference feature point bydistinguishing between an entry portion written in by a user and otherportions.
 12. The information processing device according to claim 1,wherein the processor is configured to divide the electronic documentinto sections, and compare each section to determine whether the atleast one received electronic document is the modified version.
 13. Theinformation processing device according to claim 12, wherein theprocessor divides the electronic document into the sections according toa predetermined symbol in the electronic document.
 14. An informationprocessing system comprising: an image processing device that performsimage processing; and an information processing device that performsprocessing to specify a blank portion which has not been written in by auser on an electronic document used with the image processing device,wherein the information processing device includes a processorconfigured to group electronic documents that have been processed, basedon a similarity degree of the electronic documents into one or moregroups, determine a group, among the one or more groups, to which atleast one received electronic document is to belong, determine whetherthe at least one received document is a modified version of the one ormore electronic documents belonging to the determined group based on adifference between at least one image of the one or more electronicdocuments belonging to the determined group and an image of the at leastone received electronic document, the modified version having beenpartially modified with respect to the one or more electronic documentsbelonging to the determined group, and specify a blank portion in the atleast one received electronic document by comparing the at least onereceived electronic document with the one or more electronic documentsbelonging to the determined group.
 15. A non-transitory computerreadable medium storing a program causing a computer to execute aprocess comprising: grouping electronic documents that have beenprocessed, based on a similarity degree of the electronic documents intoone or more groups; determining a group, among the one or more groups,to which at least one received electronic document is to belong;determining whether the at least one received document is a modifiedversion of the one or more electronic documents belonging to thedetermined group based on a difference between at least one image of theone or more electronic documents belonging to the determined group andan image of the at least one received electronic document, the modifiedversion having been partially modified with respect to the one or moreelectronic documents belonging to the determined group; and specifying ablank portion in the at least one received electronic document bycomparing the at least one received electronic document with the one ormore electronic documents belonging to the determined group.